Self-measuring milk-can



2 Sheets-Sheet l.

Patented Dec. 27, I898.

(Application filed Jan. 24, 1898.)

C. H. VAN ALSTYNE. SELF MEASURING MJLK CAN.

(No Model.)

W/T/VESSES:

flaw 94x No. 6l6,594. Patented Dec. 27, I898. G. H. VAN ALSTYNE.

SELF MEASURING MILK CAN.

(Application filed Jan. 24, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

INVENTOH:

W/TNESSES c n v o r a m H s 1 n N w a r c N P n c s a s r a a m n m s HY llrirrnn STATES arnnr rrrcn,

CHARLES H. VAN ALSTYNE, OF MANCHESTER, IOlVA.

SELF-MEASURING MILK-CAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 616,594, dated December27, 1898. Application filed January 24, 1893. Serial No. 667,806- (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. VAN AL- sTYNE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Manchester, in the county of Delaware and State ofIowa, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsinSelf-Measuringlililk- Cans; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates to selfmeasuring milk-cans; and the object is toprovide a simple and reliable receiving-can for creameries and the likefor ascertaining the exact quantity of each parcel or lot of milk leftby each producer withoutthe necessity of gaging each parcel or lotseparately.

To this end the novelty consists in the construction, combination, andarrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, andparticularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings the same reference characters or numeralsindicate the same parts of the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved self-measuring milk-can.Fig. 2 is a horizontal section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section. Fig. at isa similar View through the float guide-tube.

1 represents the cylindrical can, open at the top and provided with aninverted conical or concave bottom 2.

represents a side lever-faucet provided with the pivoted yoke 3,carrying a valve 3 and connected with a rod 4, the upper end of which ispivoted to a hand-lever 5, fulcrumed in a bracket 6, for convenientlymanipulating the faucet from the top of the can.

represents a discharge conductor-trough leading from the center of thebottom 2 to the faucet, which communicates with the interior of the canat a point below the level of the said bottom 9,

7 represents a vertical float-tube elliptical in crossscction and fixedto the outside of the can.

8 represents the cylindrical guide-tube, c011- centrically fixed withinthe float-tube 7. The

lower end of the loat-tube 7 is connected to the outer end of a radialpipe 9, which communicates with a central orifice 10 in the lowermostpoint of the conical bottom 2.

11 represents a hood removably secured in the orifice 10 in the bottom2, and it is provided with a conical top 12 and a foraminous wall 13,through which the liquid in the can is permitted to seek its level inthe tube 7in a regular and even manner and not spasmodically, as wouldbe the case if the orifice 10 were unobstructed.

14 represents a float which encompasses the guide-tube 8, so as to havea free vertical movement in the float-tube 7, and it is provided with astaple 15, to which is fixed the lower end of a sprocket-chain 16, whichextends upwardly over a sprocket-wheel 17 on a shaft 18, journaled inthe dial-case 19, and thence downward through the cylindrical guide-tube8, its lower end being provided with a counterbalancing weight 20. Theshaft 18 is also provided'with a pinion 21, which meshes with agear-wheel 22, fixed on a shaft 23, centrally journaled in the case 19,and 24 represents a pointer or indicator-hand fixed on the projectingend of said shaft, which traverses a scale on the face of the dial 25,so that a given quantity of fluid in the can will be accuratelyindicated by the pointer on the dial. It will also be observed that whensaid pointer indicates the quantity of fluid in the can and anadditional quantity be added the difierence between the first and secondreadings of the dial will determine the volume added, so that a seriesof quantities added to the contents of the can can be ascertained withprecision without the care and laborinvolved in weighing or measuringeach lot or parcel separately.

Although I have specifically described the construction and relativearrangement of the several elements of my invention, I do not desire tobe confined to the same,as such changes or modifications may be made asclearly fall within the scope of my invention without departing from thespirit thereof.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to soon re by Letters Patent of the United States,is-

In a self-measuring milk-can, the combination of a can-body providedwith a dischargefaucet and an inverted conical or concaved bottom havingan opening at the center thereof, a discharge-trough communicating withthe interior of the can through said opening and leading therefrom tothe faucet, a hood provided with a conical top and foraminous walldetachably secured in said central opening, a vertical float-tubearranged wholly on the exterior of the can, a guide-tube inclosed withinsaid float-tube, a radial pipe below the concave bottom extending fromthe hood to and opening through the wall of the can into the lower endof the float-tube, a dial-casing arranged on the upper end of thefloat-tube, an indicator-shaft mounted therein carrying a pointer and agear-Wheel, a second shaft scribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. VAN ALSTYNE.

\Vitnesses:

W. C. GREGORY, WALTER C. GREGORY, Jr.

